Tell me about your experience breastfeeding and dieting

DD is 8 months old and breastfed. We've had so many battles with low supply that I'm still taking the maximum dose of motilium and I've been comp feeding her with formula after feeds until now. Since becoming established on solids, she hasn't wanted the formula top ups, yay! Such an achievement for us to keep BFing this far and I'm very proud

However, this extra baby weight is really starting to annoy me! Would love to lose it but I think part of the reason I lost my supply was dieting too soon. I would love to hear about your experiences dieting while breastfeeding - did you manage to lose weight? Did you lose your milk? Just curious to see if it's something I might consider again now, but I'm nervous.

Also can't shift it while BFeeding - my appetite is far bigger than its ever been and to be honest I'm struggling not to gain! I have a great milk supply, never needed to top up my DD and I don't want to compromise it. I'm a few kilos over weight so will kep trying but can't help thinking that it won't budge until I stop feeding and I don't intend on doing that any time soon.

i must say , I also struggle to shift that baby weight till i stop breastfeeding. Im always a little "doughy" when feeding. Partly because I just seem to have more apetite and like the PP above, being at home and not working seems to lead to more sneaky trips to cafes and baking at home!

Interesting, thank you! So it's not just me - makes me feel better than I can't seem to shift the weight! I'm hungry ALL the time and it's such a struggle to be active in a hot QLD summer.

I'm planning on feeding DD until at least 12 months (when I go back to work) and I'm not terribly overweight, about 5kgs over pre-baby weight so it's not much, just annoying that I feel a bit frumpy in a limited wardrobe.

I don't want to compromise my supply and stress over nothing, so I guess I can just accept that I'll hold onto the weight until then. But I don't really want to have to buy a new work wardrobe... sigh!

I'm another who can't shift weight while bf. I think my body goes into some sort of fat storing mode. When I stopped bf ds3 ten months ago I quickly went on to lose twenty kilograms, with clean eating and an hour if exercise three times a week.

Another thing to consider is that often women who naturally drop weight whilst bfing tend to have this happen in the second half of the baby's first year rather than the first half.I didn't have any baby fat to lose (I lost weight during pregnancy) but kept piling it on due to my high calorie diet and lack of exercise. Now I need to lose it.I know what you mean about a hot summer, unless you can go somewhere cool to exercise (ie gym or pool) or do it in the very early morning or evening it's hard to do.If it's only 5 kg perhaps do it with dietary changes and hopefully the less hot weather will eventually arrive and your baby will possibly allow you some small periods of absence to do some exercise, even if it is just more walking.In case you haven't seen this- http://kellymom.com/nutrition/mothers-diet/mom-weightloss/All the best.

Firsly well done on persisting with BF and congratulations on making it this far!

In your situation I would recommend seeing your doctor or CHN for advice on cutting calories, especially if you don't have a lot to lose - you don't want to risk all your hard work in getting here by dropping your intake too much. My advice is to start gently, just with a bit of walking, and cut out the obviously bad foods. I've just lost 16kg while breastfeeding - started when DS was around six months, he's now nearly 11 months. I started just by walking and tracking food on MFP, at about 1700 cals. I'm still feeding now, and have just recently started some strength training along with walking, running or killing myself on the cross trainer.

Oh also, I started a size 16 with F cups so had plenty of 'wiggle room' calorie wise! If you only have a small amount to lose (i.e. 5kgs) you might have to put it off for another couple of months. Good luck!

LOL, this is what inspired me at 9 months with DD#1!!! I tried on my work clothes getting ready to go back to work!

I have found it harder to lose weight in general since I went past 30 years, have under 7kg to lose and since having kids .....sigh!!!

I also think after DD#1 turned 9+months my body did start remembering who it used to be!!! Not sure if it was my imagination or not?? From memory they do say 9 months to be pregnant, 9 months to let your body come back to some kind of normal....

I started losing weight once my ds hit about 9 months. I found I was more active looking after him plus I wasn't as hungry as I'd been previously. I ended up losing about 8kg while I was breastfeeding (stopped at 2 years). I would have lost more but I fed less towards the end and I ate too much chocolate!

I decided to lose the last of the baby weight when DD was about 8 months. She was well established on solids and I wasn't feeding through the night anymore.

I did have a small drop in supply, but I never had a great supply to begin with, and I think co-sleeping and demand feeding, feeding to sleep etc helped keep my supply during the first 8 months. So it could have been due to stopping all that, or the reduction in calories.

She is now almost 10 months, and only really feeds about twice a day in the last few weeks. I'm a bit over the BF now so I'm not really pushing it. She had some formula before bed tonight so I think I'm almost done. I feel completely empty most of the time and she gets a lttle frustrated with the lack of milk but then she gets distracted and she's off.

I've lost 5kg over the last 2 months so I'm back to pre preg weight.

Personally, if you've fought so hard for your BF, and want to continue to 12 months or beyond, then I'd hold off on the dieting. I think if you've got supply issues, then any drop in calories will affect it. You've made it this far, another couple of months waiting won't make much difference.

Well done for breastfeeding. I'm exclusively breastfeeding 5 month old twins plus running around after a 3 year old. I am gluten/soy/dairy free due to allergies. Eat mostly clean foods and have lost no weight! I really don't want to mess with my supply so am going to worry about exercising and cutting all junk out once I finish b/f. Good luck!

Well done for breastfeeding. I'm exclusively breastfeeding 5 month old twins plus running around after a 3 year old. I am gluten/soy/dairy free due to allergies. Eat mostly clean foods and have lost no weight! I really don't want to mess with my supply so am going to worry about exercising and cutting all junk out once I finish b/f. Good luck!

I also have a low supply and was on max dose of motilium long term. I joined weight watchers and lost about 30-35kg of weight each time, after both my second and my third babies. I tend to stack on the weight with each pregnancy, and I couldnt shift it on my own with just BF.

I didnt notice any drop in supply while on the program. WW gives you extra points to make up for the breastfeeding, and I ate all the extras and still lost weight fairly quickly (about 1kg per week). I didnt exercise either. I was worried my supply would drop if I lost too much weight but fortunately that didnt happen. I did stay on the motilium throughout it all, so maybe that helped. DS2 is now 20 months and BF's 3 times a day, and I am down to 2 motilium tablets a day. I am a few kgs off my goal weight now.

Axiomae - Well done for persisting with the BF throughout it all. It is great when they start refusing the top up's, isnt it? I would give something like WW or calorie king a go, they allocate extra food because you are BF so they are probably the safest options. Good luck with it!